Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Ernest Glenn Beight was born on February 10, 1940 in Mahoning County, Ohio. He was living in Arizona by 1965. He married his second wife, Eloise, on July 17, 1968 in Imperial County, California, and together they had one daughter. Ernest worked for American Linen Co at the time of his death. He lived with his wife and daughter at 2206 E 14th Place in Yuma, Yuma County, AZ. Ernest, 28, was in California for an unstated reason on Saturday, December 14, 1968. One of his sisters lived in Napa at the time; it is possible that he had been visiting her, though this is just speculation on my part. At about 12:30am on Sunday, December 15, 1968, Ernest asked a service station attendant in Los Angeles, LA County, CA for directions to Yuma, AZ. Police believe he had been hitchhiking at the time. Approximately fifteen minutes later, at 12:45am, Ernest's body was found on the side of the southbound lane of the Harbor Freeway near the Slauson Ave on-ramp in Los Angeles. He had been shot in the ab...

Marie was born Marie Sandra Abbatiello on March 8, 1947 in Nassau County, NY to parents Thomas Martin Abbatiello and Lucy M Caggiano. She often went by her middle name, Sandra. She had a younger sister named Philomena. The family was of Italian descent. Sandra moved to Colorado sometime after 1963, possibly by 1966. She married a Black man named Shelton Edward Smith Jr (b. 1952) on October 13, 1976 in Denver, CO. Shelton's name is sometimes misspelled as Sheldon. Sandra took her husband's last name.   [Note:  CBI & Denver Cold Cases got her name wrong: it's Marie not Maria, she often went by her middle name, Sandra, and she did not hyphenate her surname; instead her legal last name was Smith.]   Photo from the Denver Police Department.   By November 1977, Sandra, 30, was working at the Airman's Club on the Lowry Air Force Base. She lived at 215 E 11th Ave with her husband Shelton. Shelton reported his wife missing on Sunday, November 20th, 1977. How long s...

Elizabeth seems to have been born Elizabeth Mary Underwood on March 21, 1942. At some point she married a man named Rodney B Winn; the pair divorced in November 1970 in Ventura County, CA. Elizabeth then remarried to a 25-year-old man named Robert N Byron in the same county on March 10, 1973; they had applied for/been granted their marriage license in late December of the previous year. Photo from NamUs. Some records on Ancestry give her first name as Mary and her middle name as Elizabeth rather than vice versa. At the time of her disappearance, Elizabeth's surname was Byron, though she may also use the surnames Winn or Underwood. Elizabeth was 36 years old when she was last seen at her home in Oxnard, Ventura County sometime in May 1978. The exact date of her disappearance is unknown. Very few details are available in her case. Based on the lack of information, including the uncertainty of the date of disappearance, it seems possible to me that Elizabeth was not reported missing u...

Lynn Marie Mueller, 21, was found dead in her bedroom by her husband Mike, 27, at their house at 880 E Main St in Ventura, Ventura County, CA on Friday, May 30, 1975. That day Mike had taken Lynn to the dentist because she had a toothache. Once they got back to their home, Mike made Lynn some soup, then left for his job on the night shift at an oil refinery "off the Rincon." Photo from the City of Ventura Cold Case Investigations page. Lynn, who was devoutly religious, went next door to a service at a Pentecostal church on Kalorama and Main St that evening. Other churchgoers stated that they last saw her at church  at 9:30pm . After returning home, Lynn called Mike at work and chatted with him for about 15min. A neighbor then reported seeing Lynn speaking with a man on her porch at approximately 10:00pm. The man was described as light haired and wearing a short jacket, perhaps a uniform jacket. The witness description matched that of a man who had argued with Lynn regarding r...

Winnefred Jeanette Freeman, 20, was last seen on Wednesday, May 8, 1968 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon. She was seen getting into her car with a middle-aged, heavy-set man who has not been identified. Her car was a 1964 blue & white Chevrolet. Four days later, on Sunday, May 12, 1968, Winnefred's car was found abandoned in the city. Very few details are available in her disappearance. It is unknown if/when Winnefred was originally reported missing. On September 27, 1968, her parents — Mr and Mrs Isaac Harpole — published a $300 reward — $2,756.93 today — in  The Oregonian  for anyone with information concerning Winnefred or her possible abductor; informants were asked to notify the missing persons department of the Portland Police Bureau. At the time of her disappearance, Winnefred was 20 years old, 5'4, and 115 to 120 lbs. She is a Black female with black hair and brown eyes. It is unknown what she was wearing when she was last seen. 1965 Jefferson High S...

At the time of her disappearance, Kimberly Ann Stewart (nee Morgan), 21, was estranged from her husband, Steven Michael "Mike" Stewart, whom she married when she was 15 and he was a freshman in college. They had met while attending Lincoln High School together. Kimberly was last seen on Tuesday, May 24, 1977, in Sheridan, Placer County, CA. She left her home on Rioso Rd in Sheridan and dropped her two young daughters off with their babysitter, a family friend named Monica Wooden. Kimberly told Monica that she would be back to pick up her daughters later that evening. Photo from NamUs. Kim then left in her gray 1975 Chevy Vega hatchback to meet with her estranged husband Steven. The two had arranged to meet at a pizza parlor for dinner to discuss their impending divorce and/or for Steven to give Kimberly some money (sources vary). Witnesses at the pizza parlor in Wheatland, Yuba County, CA stated that the couple argued, then left soon after arriving. According to Kimberly'...

Tiffany Doyle, 26, was last seen on Friday, November 8, 1974 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, CA. She may use her married name, Felkey. It is believed that Tiffany may have been hitchhiking when she was last seen leaving Santa Cruz. She has an unspecified, non-life-threatening medical condition that requires regular medication, which she didn't take with her. She was wearing a brown nylon jacket and a multicolored stocking cap, and was carrying a green nylon day pack or backpack. She has never been seen or heard from again. It is considered possible that she left of her own accord. Very few details are available in her case. Tiffany Doyle. Photo from NamUs. Tiffany is a white female with short brown hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was 26 years old, 5'6, and 100 lbs. She was born on December 29, 1947 in Omaha, Nebraska. If alive today, she would be 77 years old. Tiffany was first reported missing by her younger sister Pamela sometime between November ...

At the time of his death, Everett Lloyd Bradley, a 19-year-old Black man, was employed as a cook. At either 7:00 or 7:41pm on Friday, February 1, 1974, Everett's wife Emma and her mother-in-law  — Everett's mother, Rosa  — returned to the couple's home at 80 West Point Rd in San Francisco. Emma had been in the hospital, and had not seen Everett since Wednesday, January 30. Upon returning home, Emma and Rosa discovered Everett's body sprawled behind a couch in the living room. He had been stabbed several times in the back. According to investigators, there was evidence of a violent struggle in the front room of the house. While newspapers don't state when he was last seen by anyone other than Emma, his death date is listed as February 1st on all records and clippings that I could find, so it seems that it is believed that he died on the same day that he was found. Everett Lloyd Bradley was born in Jefferson County, TX on September 2, 1954 to parents Robert Lee Bradle...

Born Donna JoAnn Gardner on May 31, 1958 to parents Richard and Betty, Donna had two older siblings — a sister and a brother — and two younger sisters, Reba (b1959) and Anna (b1962). I couldn't really find anything about what kind of person Donna was, but from what I can glean, she seemed to be a fun and loving young woman. She had long blonde hair, and from the descriptions given of her, was quite stylish. She didn't have a criminal record, and her only brush with the law had been when she was picked up for being a juvenile in possession of alcohol. On April 26, 1974 in Reno, Nevada, Donna married Leonard Monroe Peeples, who was born January 9 1958 in Stanislaus County, CA. I cannot find very much about Leonard in the newspapers from before their marriage, other than that he was injured in two separate car accidents, both of which he was not at fault for. Together, Donna and Leonard had one daughter, April, who was born in late November 1974 in Modesto City Hospital. By July 1...